0
EL PASO, Texas —- Several central El Paso residents said what is supposed to keep water from flooding their neighborhood is now being used as an attraction for racers. However, they said they don't like the city's solutions to the problem.
"This is a street previous to the park, so a lot of people are walking their kids and dogs," said Juanita Fematt.
Fematt said she now fears for her family's lives in what used to be their calm, quiet neighborhood.
"I tell my husband [to] park the car right there because it's been hit so many times. It prevents the cars that land from going into the homes," she said.
The car is actually a large white van that is now at the shop after being hit twice in just the last few weeks.
Neighbors near the intersection of Cranfill Street and Monroe Avenue in central El Paso said a dip in the road at the intersection is the problem. Fematt said racers drive at speeds of up to 60 mph in the 20-mph zone. City leaders said they are aware of the problems.
"The last accident that happened was the result of two people racing each other," said City Rep. Susie Byrd.
Neighbors pointed out several lines in the street where cars land after speeding over the dip. Neighbors took several pictures of a truck that landed after the driver may have been speeding.
Neighbors said it didn't stop until it hit four parked cars, went through a fence and finally came to a rest after slamming into a resident's truck. Byrd said the problem is that Monroe Avenue is one-way.
"One-way streets are really streets that are meant to carry a lot of traffic really fast," said Byrd.
Byrd says the solution to the speeding problem is to change it to a two-way street.
"That's not going to solve our problems. The dip has to be fixed. Nobody can stop drivers from speeding," said Ramiro Gonzalez.
Gonzalez fears crashes will now become head-on.
Byrd will be addressing neighbors concerns next Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the dip. She said she's not against fixing the dip and realizes it is a problem. Byrd said she is meeting with storm-water officials to see how they can curb the problems without taking away its function.
"When they do fix it, it has to allow the drainage that goes into the park," said Gonzalez.
Byrd said the cost to change Monroe Avenue from one-way to two-way is roughly $250,000 to half a million dollars. She said most of that money will be spent reconfiguring the lights at Dyer Street. Byrd had no cost estimate for changing the drainage dip.
source
